Divine Snakes, Sneaky Planets, and Remedial Rituals in South Indian Hindu Traditions

Nāgas are imaged as goddesses in South Indian Hinduism, where they enjoy enormous popularity due to their connection with fertility, healing, and auspiciousness. Nāga worship is also prescribed by astrologers to relieve nāga dōṣam, the astrological “blemish” caused by harming/killing snakes. Linked with late marriage and infertility, nāga dōṣam manifests in ill-fated configurations of the planetary deities Rahu and Ketu in one’s horoscope. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research on nāga traditions in South India, this paper describes the multiple manifestations that nāgas may take and analyzes the rich repertoire of their worship. It also considers the tiered, ticketed pūjās to pacify Rahu and Ketu offered at the Srikalahasti temple. While these “one and done” rituals have emerged as attractive alternatives to more complex and time-intensive redressals for dōṣam, this paper suggests that shifting devotional tastes and consumption practices have contributed to decentering snakes in contemporary rituals to relieve this condition.